Final Volunteer

With complete honesty, I chose the Freret Neighborhood Center because of its convenience in respect to my apartment. It's right between Bloomingdeals and an animal hospital on Freret St. (if the name didn't give it away). It is a little house that has been converted into a "community gathering space by Neighborhood Housing Services." They have a bunch of programs but I was involved with the Entrepreneur Art Club (although I wasn't aware of thisuntil I did the research). From what I gathered being there, every weekend or so, the kids would sellthe"quality products" they made at "market". The program hopes toteach these children how to become entrepreneurs by letting them run their own business. They decide how much their products will go for and sell them. The money that they make is put towards a field trip or something that they want.When I first started working there it seemed like a miserable, unorganized place despite its cheerful exterior of red, yellow, and blue. As a volunteer I wasn't given much direction on what to do besides a list of rules on my first day. After that Ms. Tea, the apparent leader of this chaos, would let me know each day whether I was to be placed in the homework lab or crafts.

the formidable Ms. Tea

I went almost every Tuesday and Wednesday from 4:30 to about 6/6:30. The kids would come in around that time as well, and after a good amount of yelling and time passing, the

group meeting would begin. In this meeting they would discuss what crafts were to be made that day, the quota they needed to fill by the next market day, and the children would be subjected to chastisements for the day before.

Meetings were rather long because this discussion was filled with sassy interjections from the kids. Their ages ranged from about 7 to 13; and most of them exemplified the Bernie Mac quote: If you grown enough to talk back, you grown enough to get fucked up!" Saying that these kids were sassy is an under-exaggeration, they were professional trash talkers in their own right.

Following the meeting was my personal favorite part of the program, snack time. These snacks usually consisted of PB & Js or a cheese/meat sandwich accompanied by a vegetable. once the kids were finished with their meal they would head to the homework lab if they had

mandatory work or to the craft room. The types of crafts we would do were making buttons,

ornaments, cards etc. At first I was pretty disparaging on the lack of creativity these kids were allowed in making their products (they were restricted to certain designs and colors), but Islowly came to terms with this when I realized that even with such restrictions (and attitude from the kids), making these crafts really was their favorite part of the program.

Takaya making buttons

the craft room

I found that such rules in making the products also put a more realistic spin on the whole thing. These kids are learning how to make products and than sell them. It might not fit with my ideals of childhood, but knowing the benefits of working hard and responsi

bility are fundamentals necessary for kids who might not live in environments that will promote such qualities.

I was only in the homework lab a couple of times. My experiences in there were frustrating but ultimately rewarding. It was difficult to get the kids started on their work and even harder to hold their attention while explaining problems which they had no interest in comprehending. When I finally convinced them that I meant business, it was really great seeing them truly take their work seriously (even if it was five minutes before we had to leave).

the homework lab

Chrissy doing her homework

My first bad opinions of the overall environment of the center were replaced as I became more familiar with the programs and as I got to know the kids better. I guess it just shows that you should try your best not to judge a book or an environment by its cover. I think the kids really benefit from having a place like the Freret Center to go to every day.